2005-06 National Women's Team

Canada 3 - Finland 1

Torino Ice Tournament
Tuesday, November 8, 2005
Torino, ITA

TEAM CANADA TAKES THE FIRST TWO IN THE TORINO ICE TOURNAMENT

TORINO, ITALY – Team Canada had its second game of the pre-Olympic tournament in Torino less than 16 hours after beating Sweden 3-1 the previous night. The 6,000 fans, most of whom were school kids, were treated to a great hockey game and let the players know what the atmosphere is going to be like at the upcoming Olympics in February.

Canada’s Sarah Vaillancourt opened the scoring with just under three minutes remaining in the first period. Defenseman Carla MacLeod took the initial shot, which was stopped by Hassinen in the Finnish net, but left a yawning cage for Vaillancourt as she buried her first of the tournament to give Canada a 1-0 first period lead.

Finland equalized four minutes into the second period when Katja Riipi was the beneficiary of a broken play in the Canadian zone. After a turnover just inside the blue-line, Rantamaki rang one off the post before Riipi pounced on the rebound and slid the puck into the net past Sami Jo Small. It would take Canada seven minutes before it regained its one goal lead on a shot by Cherie Piper. Jayna Hefford increased Canada’s lead to 3-1 on a 4-on-4 situation, and with the extra room on the ice, Hefford was able to break free beating a Finnish defender 1-on-1 and snap one home past Hassinen.

The third period was played in near record time as there was hardly a whistle for the first 13 minutes of the period. Both goalies were able to stand their ground with the score finishing at 3-1 for Canada. Sami Jo Small registered 10 saves in the victory for Canada while Maija Hassinen had a busier night in net at the opposite end of the ice making 30 saves.

Canada will now enjoy a day of rest before playing the USA on Thursday.